A cruise on the Bosphorus is a must-do during a visit to Istanbul. Not only, it allows you to explore the surroundings areas, but it is also a good way to rest your legs after too much walking on the steep streets! We opted for the one offered by the Istanbul public transit company as it lasts most of the day and goes almost all of the way to the Black Sea. A very zen way to get a glimpse of the scale of the city and its architectural diversity.

You should know, that the Bosphorus that separates Europe from Asia, is a a critical navigation channel. Nearly 50,000 merchant ships use it every year! The traffic is very intense. And by the way, the Bosphorus is an international commercial shipping channel where all can go without having to pay fees to Turkey (except of course warships!)

Quelques exemples de l’architecture des différents quartiers sur les rives d’Istanbul. Observer qu’il y a presque toujours un ou plusieurs minarets qui se profilent. / A few examples of the architecture of the different neighbourhoods on both side of the Bosphorus. You can observe that there is almost always a few minarets in the picture.Rumeli Hisarı: Une forteresse construite par les Ottomans en à peine 3 mois en 1452. / A fort built par the Ottomans in only 3 months in 1452.Le pont fut construit par-dessus les maisons construites sur le bord du Bosphore… une belle façon de perdre son accès à la lumière naturelle et de voir la valeur de sa propriété chuter. / The bridge was built over the houses on the edge of the Bosphorus…a not so nice way to lose access to natural light and see the value of your property fall.Les rives du Bosphore sont depuis longtemps où les riches Stambouliotes se construisent des maisons d’été (yalı) pour échapper à la chaleur de la ville. Traditionnellement, ces maisons étaient construites en bois. / The Bosphorus riverbanks have long been where the rich people of Istanbul come to build their summer houses (yalı) to escape the heat of the city. Traditionally, these houses were built of wood.Le but de la croisière – la mer Noire. Un arrêt de 3 heures à Anadolu Kavaği ce qui donne le temps de manger et de monter aux vestiges du fort génois (15e siècle) pour des vues splendides sur la mer Noire et le Bosphore. Après c’est le retour par le même chemin. / The goal of the cruise – the Black Sea. A stop of 3 hours at Anadolu Kavaği giving us time to eat and climb up to the ruins of a Genoese fort (15th century) for breathtaking views of the Black Sea and the Bosphorus. After it’s back to Istanbul by the same route.